


Gentle and unassuming

by ToxicPineapple



Series: Femslash February 2020 [7]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (That's the prompt), Conversations, Dark, Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash February, Lighthearted, Literal Sleeping Together, Nightlights, discussion of fears, fear of the dark, fears, light conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22524616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicPineapple/pseuds/ToxicPineapple
Summary: “Hey, Tsumugi…” Kaede pauses, waits until she has her girlfriend’s attention fully on herself, and then asks, “Is that a nightlight?”“Yes,” Tsumugi replies without hesitating, returning to her laundry after hearing the question. She seems unconcerned, or would, to most people, but Kaede catches a slight stiffness in her shoulders that wasn’t there before. “I know it’s rather childish of me, but I can’t sleep without it.” She pauses, and then says, “I’m afraid of the dark, you see.”---Tsumugi confides in Kaede one of her fears.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Shirogane Tsumugi
Series: Femslash February 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616182
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	Gentle and unassuming

**Author's Note:**

> written for femslash february day seven! the prompt is "dark"

Kaede cherishes the gentle squish of the mattress beneath her, silently watching Tsumugi as she folds clothes from the hamper. Kirumi would fold them for her, but Tsumugi is very particular about her clothes, and perhaps it is the mark of a good maid that she refrains in that case. Kaede knows how much Kirumi likes to handle every little thing for her classmates (she’d call them maternal instincts but Kirumi genuinely seems devoted to being a maid, not being a parent, so she won’t) and it shows a great deal of self-restraint, in her opinion.

At any rate, Tsumugi’s movements are swift and precise. She doesn’t even look down at her hands as she folds, just feels along the seams of the garment and touches them corner to corner, placing them in a neat on the chair before her. When she catches Kaede watching, she smiles slightly, and remarks, “I’ll put things away in my closet tomorrow morning, but I’m a bit tired right now.”

“Huh. Sounds like the solution to that is to get some sleep.” Kaede teases, patting the bed, and Tsumugi rewards her with a quiet chuckle before resuming her folding. Fair enough. Kaede swings her legs up onto the mattress and rests sideways, propping her head up with one arm as she gazes around the room. It’s Tsumugi’s room, obviously. The whole place smells like her, the scent of lemons stronger than the scent of honey in this instance, but if she presses her nose into the pillow and breathes in deep it’s there, strong and sure, and it’s soothing.

It’s clearly Tsumugi’s room, too, because she has all sorts of anime posters up on the wall, and figurines on the shelf in here that Kaede personally uses for sheet music. There are unfinished cosplays scattered around the floor, lying atop various pieces of furniture, and, to Kaede’s amusement, a pair of underpants hanging on the doorknob to the bathroom. (As Tsumugi’s girlfriend, Kaede has access to the knowledge that those are clean panties. But other people aren’t so lucky.) As well as all of that, though, there is something plugged into the power outlet that Kaede hasn’t noticed before during her previous visits. Of course, this is her first time spending the night.

“Hey, Tsumugi…” Kaede pauses, waits until she has her girlfriend’s attention fully on herself, and then asks, “Is that a nightlight?”

“Yes,” Tsumugi replies without hesitating, returning to her laundry after hearing the question. She seems unconcerned, or would, to most people, but Kaede catches a slight stiffness in her shoulders that wasn’t there before. “I know it’s rather childish of me, but I can’t sleep without it.” She pauses, and then says, “I’m afraid of the dark, you see.”

Well, it’s not a weird fear, but Kaede still finds herself a bit… taken aback, perhaps. If only because Tsumugi is so nonchalant about it. Purposefully so, as she is with most things, but still. After taking a moment to collect her words, Kaede asks, “But the nightlight helps?”

“It helps having a little bit of light. It’s gentle and unassuming.” Tsumugi gives her a sideways look, teal eyes flashing with some indiscernible emotion. “If it bothers you, though, I can sleep without it, it doesn’t have to be--”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Kaede smiles. “I sleep just fine in class! A nightlight is nothing.” She pauses, and then says, “I’m afraid of heights, did you know that?”

“I did not,” says Tsumugi in return, though her tone is too forced to be casual. “You’ve never told me.”

“No,” Kaede agrees. She hesitates. “It feels embarrassing, y’know? Admitting I’m afraid of something. It feels like I’m being weak.” She pauses, very intentionally this time, and then adds, “But I’m not.” The,  _ neither are you,  _ is implied, but from the look on Tsumugi’s face, it’s received.

She delicately folds her last shirt and then walks over to Kaede, leaning over the mattress. Before anything can be said, Tsumugi leans over and catches Kaede’s lips in a chaste kiss, gentle and lingering, and when she pulls away Kaede can still taste the mintiness of her toothpaste.

Tsumugi doesn’t speak, doesn’t thank her, but Kaede understands. Some things are difficult to put into words, so you can only hope that your actions can convey them just as well. And maybe for someone else, it would be impossible to know what Tsumugi is thinking right now, but Kaede isn’t someone else. And if she knows anything, aside from the piano… she knows Tsumugi.

She takes Tsumugi into her arms when they fall asleep, rather than the other way around like they usually do, and falls asleep with her nose tucked into the dip between Tsumugi’s neck and shoulder, and a gentle, soothing blue light filling the room.

**Author's Note:**

> it is sunday, february 2nd right now as i am creating this as a draft :3 i meant to have this done two days ago but i was tired
> 
> anyway yea
> 
> i love this ship these two are excellent
> 
> unrelated note but i'm so psyched there's so much wlw content rn this month is literally heaven


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